Abstract Personal possession exerts a significant influence on decision‐making, such that stimulus classification is speeded when objects belong to the self (vs. other persons). Exactly when and how this self‐prioritization effect arises, however, remains a matter of speculation and debate. Accordingly, adopting a psychophysical approach in combination with computational modeling, here we hypothesized that self‐prioritization could derive from the application of an egocentric strategy (i.e., default‐to‐self response) during decisional processing. Using a modified object‐classification task in which participants judged blended images comprising varying amounts of self‐owned and friend‐owned objects (i.e., pencils and pens), the results of two experiments supported this viewpoint. Participants perceptually prioritized their possessions only when a self‐centric decisional strategy was applicable (Experiment 1), an effect that was amplified when the demands of decision‐making increased (Experiment 2). Additional computational analyses traced the origin of self‐prioritization to a prestimulus preference for self‐related responses, a strategic component of decision‐making. Collectively, these findings inform understanding of how ownership influences decisional processing, with wider implications for theoretical accounts of self‐bias.
Golubickis et al. (Sun,) studied this question.